ABC News Suspends Brian Ross Without Pay

The internet strikes again, this time ABC news anchor Brian Ross was the target of its wrath after making a mistake during a live newscast.

ABC News announced Brian Ross would be suspended for four weeks without pay "effective immediately." The network issued a statement Saturday saying, "It is vital we get the story right and retain the trust we have built with our audience – these are our core principles. We fell far short of that yesterday."

Ross came under attack Friday after he erroneously reported on live TV that then-candidate Donald Trump had instructed Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians. The network issued a correction seven hours later that admitted it was "President-elect" Trump who had made the request of Flynn which amounts to a fairly significant difference.

The networks statement continued, "We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process. As a result of our continued reporting over the next several hours ultimately we determined the information was wrong and we corrected the mistake on air and online."

The mistake wasn't the first time Ross has come under fire for taking liberty with the facts. In 2012, Ross suggested that Jim Holmes who shot up the Aurora theater was a member of Colorado Tea Party, a mistake he was forced to correct on air.